Delta Force
by LadyLanham526
Summary: Summary: Our favorite little group of survivors get found, and it turns out the government isn't as defunct as everyone would believe. What happens when they learn secrets they didn't know, and come across people who actually want to help? ***No slash, possible Shane/OFC pairing, and more... Rated K for language ON INDEFINITE HIATUS!
1. Chapter 1

Delta Force

_I don't own anything pertaining to the Walking Dead, as sad as I am about that. However, Sid and her men are mine, all mine! (cue the evil laugh...)_

_Summary: Our favorite little group of survivors get found, and it turns out the government isn't as defunct as everyone would believe. What happens when they learn secrets they didn't know, and come across people who actually want to help?_

_No slash, possible Shane/OFC pairing, and more... haven't gotten that far yet. But the little Shane-voice in my head keeps screaming at me to help him get the girl, and I always try to accommodate him. He's just too cute not to. Amy is alive, Ed is dead (bastard), and Rick and Lori might mend their relationship if she gets her head out of her ass. Rated K+ for possible future scenes, we shall see._

_Rate if you want, no pressure. It does help me get an idea where to go if you send suggestions, and I'm always open to it. Flames, however, help no one and it kinda stings. Keep that in mind, thanks!_

The gorge was a beautiful place, the water clear blue and pristine, and the white stone of the rocks surrounding it like a circle of safety. Rick Grimes and his family and the other survivors spent a lot of time there when they found it, traveling the highways trying to find someplace safe. Rick knew it was an illusion of safety here, but he relished the times he spent watching them wash their clothes and laugh, splashing in the water and laughing easily with each other. He and his old partner Shane would patrol the perimeters to make sure they were safe, and that's what he was doing that random afternoon. Walking along the grass around the bank of the reservoir, his ears and eyes attuned to his surroundings. Lori was waist deep in the blue water with Andrea and Amy, watching Carl splash around with Sophia and Caol closer to the bank. His wife looked up at him, her eyes shielded from the bright sun with her hand. She started to smile, but when her expression changed into a horrified one he felt his whole senses go into slow motion.

He heard her scream his name as he spun around, but it was too late. The walker had come out of the woods and had him in its rotting grasp before he could react. His brain only registered the basics of thought as he felt the teeth of the thing penetrate his forearm and he ripped his arm away, sending blood gushing in an arc around him. A loud gunshot sounded from close to his ear and he saw the thing stagger back and fall to the ground in a heap.

"Rick!" Lori was screaming, and he could hear it, but he went to his knees and Shane came into his tunnel vision.

"God, Rick!" He cursed loudly and tried to stop the bleeding with his hands. When it just poured over his fingers he ripped his shirt off and wrapped it tightly around his arm. Rick couldn't speak, couldn't believe that after everything he'd gone through to get to this place, this was how it was going to end.

"Back up! Get back!" A voice from the treeline barked sharply and Shane looked up to see three people, commandos was the only thing he could think, burst through the trees with weapons drawn and aimed at them. Lori reached Rick and Shane and threw herself over his husband, sobs escaping her dry and tight throat.

"Get back lady." One of the commandos ordered again as he knelt down next to Rick, who was just staring up at them in shock, his mouth opening and closing silently. The stranger pulled a long silver thing that vaguely resembled a pistol without a chamber and Lori flew forward again.

"Don't kill him!"

The mask over the stranger's face stopped them from seeing his expression, but his tone was decidedly impatient. "I'm trying to save his life here. Will someone please get her?" He said and another masked person from behind him stepped around and placed their hands on her shoulders, pulling her back. Carl screamed and ran to his mother, but Andrea, being closer, grabbed him and stopped him.

"Can you hear me?" The first commando shouted down into Rick's face, and Rick blinked slowly, but nodded his head. "Good. This is a protein elastic compound. It's going to stop the bleeding, but it's going to hurt like a son of a bitch, got it?"

Rick nodded again and Shane felt like he was underwater. He should stop them, he knew, but there was something about the way they swept in, the way the other guy was only holding Lori firmly enough to keep her out of the way, and Shane didn't move. He watched as the first guy put the metal tool against the bite on Rick's arm and pulled a trigger at the end. A thick, whitish substance came out and sank into the wound and Rick let out a growl of pain through clenched teeth. Shane grabbed his writhing leg and and held it tight as the stranger dropped the metal tool and reached into a pocket on a belt at his waist, pulling out a long syringe. Shane opened his mouth but the stranger had the needle buried in Rick's arm before he could protest. Rick hissed again and rolled on the ground in agony for a few moments before falling quiet and still.

"What the hell did you just do?" Shane blurted out as the man who held Lori let her go and she went flying back to Rick's side.

"He'll be fine. The bite was fresh enough, hadn't gone through his system yet." The stranger said, sitting back and pulling the mask off his face. Shane and the others looked at him with wide eyes, shocked and terrified. He was young, late twenties with spiky dark blonde hair and blue eyes that sparkled and a dimple in his chin, evident with the smile he was giving them all at the moment.

"He was bit. How can you say he'll be fine?" Lori said angrily, holding Rick's head in her hands.

The blonde man looked at her kindly. "He's had the anecdote, he'll wake up in an hour or so. He's gonna feel like a truck hit him going 90, but he'll be fine. Bet he won't even need the second dose."

Lori and Shane's eyes went wide. "Anecdote?" Dale said questioningly, coming up behind them and staring at the blonde man and his counterparts. "There's an anecdote to the bites?"

The man nodded. "Sorry it took us so long to get here. You guys are pretty out here, you know?" He looked back at the other two men. "Pick him up, let's get back before Sid let's us have it."

"What! What are you doing?" Lori grabbed at Rick again when the man who hadn't moved yet, a big guy in black fatigues like the other two, leaned down and picked Rick up like he was made of feathers.

"We're getting you all out of here." The blonde man stepped forward and put his hand out toward her. "Taking you someplace safe. Come on."

"Shane." Lori said and he stepped up between them.

"Look, man, I don't know what's goin on here, but you can't just sweep in here and tell us to follow you. We seen what those bites do, there's no anecdote." Shane said, getting in the blonde man's face, his hands on his hips. "And you ain't takin Rick anywhere."

"That's his name, huh? Well, I'm Parker." he stuck out his hand and Shane hesitated in taking it. "Alright," He said when none bothered to answer. He pulled his hand back and held it up, yanking the sleeve of his shirt. A deep scar in the shape of a bite mark was on the top of his forearm. "Bit a month ago in Cleveland. Not a walker, as you can see from the baby blues. So will you trust me enough to come or are we going to have to bond a little more?"

Shane looked back at his group on the banks, all gathered near now and watching with quite trepidation. He looked back at Rick, passed out over the shoulder of the tall masked man.

"They fired. Gonna draw more roamers." The man who had held Lori back stepped toward Parker and spoke quietly.

"We have to go, man." Parker looked back at Shane wearily. A walkie on the chest chest crackled to life.

"What's taking so long, Parker?" A female voice. "Get your asses back here."

Parker winced and pushed a button on a device sticking out of his ear. "Copy that. On our way, with survivors." His eyes went to Shane, who pressed his lips together and nodded.

"Take them back to their camp." The voice said and the speaker clicked off. Shane nodded and turned back to the others.

"We're just going back to camp, come on." Shane said to Lori and the others, and Carl grabbed her hand tightly as they followed Parker and his men back to the RV and camp site they had on the hill.

They expected to see others when they reached the top of the hill, wet clothes from the reservoir now dry in the baking sun and heat. Parker didn't seem concerned however, he just led his two men to the tents and turned back to Shane.

"You have something we can put Rick on or should we use the ground?" He asked.

"The cot in the tent." Lori said and Shane looked back to see her tear stained face. She'd cried silently all the way back up the hill.

"I'll get it." Shane said, moving away.

"Good, bring it out here so I can watch him." Parker said and looked around the camp as Shane brought the cot near enough for the big guy to put him down. Lori went to his side immediately, grabbing his hand and holding it tightly. Shane watched his face for any sign of life, and except for a bright rose color in his cheeks, there was none.

Shane walked up to Parker, glancing at his men on either side. "Who the hell are you?"

"We got time. Sid is going to be here in a minute and we'll all sit down and have a nice talk. Sound good? Good. Attention!" He finished with the barking order and he and his men snapped up and stood straight, eyes forward. Shane turned and saw a shorter figure emerging from the trees to his left, followed by two more masked figures with rifles across their chests. She was dressed in the military outfit they all were but did not, however, have her face covered by more than a pair of mirrored sunglasses, and her shiny dark hair was pulled back from her face in a bun. She was pale, they all were, but her cheeks were rosy and her lips full and pink. Her dark eyebrows arched delicately above her glasses, and her nose was pretty and petite. She couldn't have been more than 5'5, well below Shane, and was perhaps 24, 25.

She walked up to Parker and surveyed Shane and the others before seeing Rick on the cot by Lori. "Bit?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"How fast was the anecdote administered?"

"Two minutes, give or take a few seconds."

She looked up at him amused. "Good. Your time is getting better."

"Thank you, ma'am." He said, but his eyes drifted down to her and he turned the corner of his mouth up. She walked past him and got down on one knee on the other side of the cot. She lifted Rick's eyelids and checked his pupils, then put two fingers against his neck, feeling for a pulse. She pulled a device from her belt and laid it against his forehead, and it chirped quietly twice. She pulled it back and read it.

"No temperature, eye reflexes are good. He'll be fine." She said, looking up at Lori. "You his wife?"

Lori nodded, her eyes wide and terrified.

"Don't worry. He'll be awake soon."

"Can somebody tell us what is going on here?" Dale stepped forward, his face confused and bewildered, and asked the question they all were wondering.

The woman at him curiously. "We saved your boy's life. We came to help."

"But who are you?" He said, looking around at her and her men.

"Benson, but you can call me Sid. We're first tier responders for the outbreak."

"Military?" Shane asked, stepping up next to Dale.

She nodded. "We handle pandemics, biological based contagions, you get the idea."

"That's why you have an anecdote." Dale said, his face clearing from the confusion. "Boy, we sure have been looking for you guys."

She raised her eyebrows. "Not as hard as we've been looking for you. You people got pretty out here, didn't you? How'd you manage that?" She looked around the clearing and over the hill to the valley below.

"Wasn't easy." Dale chuckled, and Shane frowned.

"Wait, you have an anecdote, so why are we still being attacked by those things? Where the hell have you been?"

She looked at him and pressed her lips together. Parker rolled his eyes and winced silently behind her as she walked up to Shane and put her hands on her hips. "There were 313,898,770 in this country as of May last year and over half of them are walking around here with their faces melted off eating each other. You'll pardon me if it's taking a little longer than I'd like to get this under control?"

Shane looked a little startled. He wasn't used to being called down, especially by a pretty little brunette with five guys under her thumb. He frowned but fell silent, and Lori piped up behind him excitedly.

"He's awake!"

She patted his face, hers only inches from his, and they saw Rick's eyes blink and flutter open, wincing at the sunlight on his face. Sid went back to his side and checked his eyes again. "How do you feel?"

"Like I was bit." He said, raising his arm and seeing a patch of hardened white over the place he had sworn had been ripped open and bleeding.

Sid chuckled. "Nothing gets by you. That's a elastin to help the healing, it'll fall off when it's ready."

"Heal?" He said, looking up at her in confusion. "But it was a bite."

"We got the anecdote in you fast, don't worry." Sid said, sitting back on her heels. "Can you sit up?"

Rick groaned and Lori helped him get upright to a sitting position.

"Move your fingers." Sid instructed and he wiggled his fingers against the hand she held up against his. "Good. Press as hard as you can." He did so and she nodded, pulling her hand away. "Doesn't look like it got any muscles or tendons. You got lucky."

"What's goin on?" He looked back at Lori, confused and she shook her head.

"They said they have an anecdote, they're military." Lori said softly and Rick looked back at Sid in shock.

"You're military?"

Sid sighed, standing up and raising her hand for her men. "Gather everyone so we can get this spelled out for them. We need to get back for report."

Shane and Lori got Rick to the semicircle everyone was forming by the tents, and Carl got down next to his knees protectively when they sat down. Sid squatted on the grass while Parker and the others turned their backs to them, watching in a broad circle for more walkers. Dale was excited, sitting close to Sid, his face turned toward hers with a smile. She nodded to him and looked over the group.

Shane was squatting to, next to Rick, Lori and Carl, not wanting to seem to eager to accept what the woman was going to tell them. She seemed to notice and when she spoke, she often looked at him.

"Long story short, we're here with the 1st Special Forces Operational Detatchment-Delta." She began, and Shane's mouth dropped open.


	2. Reunions

_I don't own anything pertaining to the Walking Dead, as sad as I am about that. However, Sid and her men are mine, all mine! (cue the evil laugh...)_

_Summary: Our favorite little group of survivors get found, and it turns out the government isn't as defunct as everyone would believe. What happens when they learn secrets they didn't know, and come across people who actually want to help?_

_No slash, possible Shane/OFC pairing, and more... haven't gotten that far yet. But the little Shane-voice in my head keeps screaming at me to help him get the girl, and I always try to accommodate him. He's just too cute not to. Amy is alive, Ed is dead (bastard), and Rick and Lori might mend their relationship if she gets her head out of her ass. Rated K+ for possible future scenes, we shall see._

_Rate if you want, no pressure. It does help me get an idea where to go if you send suggestions, and I'm always open to it. Flames, however, help no one and it kinda stings. Keep that in mind, thanks!_

"You? You're Delta Force?" Shane's eyes went even wider and he looked at Rick, who also looked stunned. These guys were the best of the best, if they were telling the truth.

She nodded. "Operators with The Unit, yes. We're moving across the country clearing as many infected as we can, saving the ones that can be saved, like you," She looked at Rick, "And setting up safe houses for people to go and that's where we'd like to take you."

"With other survivors?" Dale asked.

"We have over a hundred and seventy five at the moment in this location. Some have more, some less, as the other divisions bring them in."

"There are others, like you?" Rick asked, his voice strained with discomfort.

"Yes. But no one like us."

"What does that mean?" Shane asked, exasperated. He had spent the last weeks fighting off the living dead and now this chick wanted him to believe she just swept in here like a beacon of hope to fix everything?

She frowned and looked at him. "I'm sure you figured out that this virus had to be engineered. It didn't just happen."

"I thought something along those lines. Are you saying this was biological warfare?" Dale asked knowingly.

She shook her head. "No one in their right mind would have let this thing out purposefully. There was a leak in a testing facility in Iowa, and we figure that's where patient zero picked it up. As you've seen, it spreads fast. We tried to contain the town but it got out."

"So you did this?" Shane said, standing, his face contorted in anger. "You started this whole fucking thing?"

Parker and another man turned around and stepped toward Sid but she held up her hand, stopping them. They slowly turned around and took their positions again and she pulled her sunglasses off, looking up at Shane with piercing green eyes that seemed to glow.

"We didn't do this. This was a private testing facility run by a man who had too much money and not enough sense. Once we realized what he'd done we destroyed everything."

"So, our government had nothing to do with this." Dale said, and he seemed relieved. "That's a relief."

"Not this, but they had been working on defense for just such an attack. Of course, we thought it would come from foreign soil, but the response was the same. The SD's were called up and we've been working to take the threat down."

"And now you're here. Thank god." Dale grinned, and Sid nodded to him.

"What did you mean, there's no one like you? No one trained in this, you mean?" Rick asked, sitting forward a little.

"Not exactly." She set her jaw firmly. "I mean, they've been working on defense. The anecdote is part of that, but so are we. During the cold war tests were run on soldiers to make them stronger. Smarter, more resistant to infection."

"Super soldiers." Dale mused. "But it was always denied that they ever existed."

She looked at him and tilted her head a little. "They also claim The Unit was disbanded. Yet, here we are."

"Good point." Dale said, chuckling.

She stood up and brushed herself off. "We need to get going. I have to get my report to the Pentagon in 4 hours."

"The Pentagon?" Shane said quickly and all their mouths dropped open.

"It's still operational, they've just gone underground. We get our orders from the President."

"Obama's alive?" Rick asked and she chuckled.

"And who did you assume would be secured first? The drive thru girl at Burger King? Of course he is."

"Where is he?" Dale asked and she shook her head.

"Sorry, but we have to go." She barked an order to her men and they started gathering the groups belongings. Rick stood shakily and Sid shook her head. "Oh, no. You try to walk in this heat you'll pass out. Parker, get him to a vehicle."

Parker stepped up and grabbed Rick's arm, hoisting his weight to his own and he led Lori and Rick away, Carl, Andrea close behind. Shane stayed with T-Dog and Daryl as the men gathered their things, but they moved so fast in a few moments the tents were down and a pile of bags was on the ground beside them.

She pulled out the thermometer she had used on Rick and took all their temperatures. "Have any of you been bitten? Scratched? Exposed to the virus at all?" She asked as she went around the group, starting with Shane.

"Just Rick." He said and she met his eyes and nodded.

"Get the stuff, let's go." she ordered a final time as she finished and the men loaded up quickly, leaving Shane and the others with nothing to carry. As he followed them down the hill he had the absemt thought that maybe he'd fallen into the twilight zone sometime during the morning and this was all a dream.

"What do you think?" T-Dog said from beside Shane when they came upon two decked out armored vehicles with sliding doors. Parker was loading Rick into one followed by Lori and Carl. The others went to the doors and piled in either vehicle, and Shane let out a low breath.

"If the shot they gave him stops Rick from being a walker, I'd say we hit the motherload." Shane said grimly.

"But you don't think it's quite that clear cut, do you?" T asked, throwing him a glance.

"Is it ever?" Shane retorted, going to get in with Rick. He found himself in the same car as Sid, and he frowned as she slid in across from him and shut the door.

She took her glasses off again and looked at him closely as they started moving. "You're not the trusting type, are you?" She asked him and he set his jaw.

"Not particularly. Anecdotes? Super soldiers? I don't know what you're trying to pull here but I got a feeling we might be walkin into a death trap here."

"Give me your hand." She said, looking at the wall of the vehicle and pulling a small pad with a fingerprint detector on it. He hesitated but eventually held his hand out and she took it, pressing his fingertip against the glass on the pad. It chirped back at her and she held it up and sat back, looking it over. "Shane Walsh, deputy of the Sheriff's department in King's County, Georgia. Got in some trouble when you were in high school, huh?"

He furrowed his brow and started to speak but she'd moved on to Lori. She held out her hand and Benson did the same thing with her. "Lori Grimes, wife of Richard. Maiden name Martinson." Sid furrowed her brow like she was thinking hard. She shook her head and continued. "Mother to one son, Carl Grimes, also from King's County. I'm assuming that's you, huh?" Sid said, looking down at Carl between Rick and Lori. He grinned and nodded. Sid looked up at Rick. "Your turn, but I bet I know who you are."

Rick held out her hand and she pressed his finger on the pad. "Yeah, Richard Grimes."

"Rick." He corrected her and she nodded.

"Rick, sorry. Sheriff's Deputy at King's County too. Don't think I've ever met so many people on the road that managed to stick together. You must be good."

"Luck." Rick croaked out, his throat going dry. Sid noticed and lifted a small compartment in the seat next to her, pulling out a cold bottle of water. She uncapped it and handed it to Rick.

"I think it has more to do with skill." She said as he drank. "It's impressive, considering what happened this morning. You let your guard down, didn't you?"

He nodded, pulling the bottle away from his lips. She shrugged lightly. "It happens." She said. "Just glad we were there."

"So are we. Thank you." Lori said earnestly and they felt the car pull to a stop. Sid put the pad back on the wall and they winced as the door slid open to reveal a smiling Parker.

"We're here." He said and Sid hopped lightly down, and turned to watch the others get out of the cars. They were in a large clearing not far from the reservoir. Shane remembered it when they had taken walkers down here before. What had changed, though, was the large black ops helicopter that had landed on the ground in front of them.

"My god." Dale breathed as they stepped a little closer.

"That's Hawk." Sid said loudly over the sound of the motor. She pointed to the cockpit and they saw a man with a large headset over his head salute them through the window. "Best damn pilot in the world. Go on, get in." She ushered them forward and Lori walked with Parker as he helped Rick again. It was plenty large enough to fit them all, and Shane slid in last, watching Sid converse silently with two of the still masked men.

"I can't believe you have a helicopter." Carl said excitedly and Parker grinned at him.

"That's not all we got. You'll see."

Sid turned and hopped up on the rails of the chopper, holding the side tightly. She stayed there as they rose into the air, watching below as the vehicles they had been in drive across the clearing and disappear into the distance.

"Where'd they go?" Shane asked over the noise as she slid in next to Parker across from him and the others.

She pushed a button and a glass partition came down over the opening, sealing the cabin and shutting out the noise to a distant muffle of what it was.

"They're driving back. I didn't want to leave the command vehicles for someone to find." She said, pushing another button on her earpiece and speaking clearly. "How are we looking Hawk?"

"Blue skies. Be there in an hour and a half." A deep voice came over the speakers and she looked at them with a pleasant but reserved gaze.

"That should give us plenty of time to get to know each other."

"Where are we going?" Lori asked.

"A safe house outside of Cincinnati."

"Cincinnati is at least a day and a half drive from here. We're going to get there in under two hours?" Shane asked incredulously, and she smiled.

"This is an MH-6 Transport chopper, Officer. This bird can get me anywhere I need to be in less time than you would even imagine." She said and Shane looked out the window at the world whizzing by below.

"Can you talk about the super soldier thing again?" Dale spoke up. "What does that mean exactly?"

She looked over at Parker. "Did you show him your bite?" He nodded and she turned back to Dale. "We're immune to the virus for one. Parker here wasn't down a few hours before he was annoying the hell out of me again."

"He got the shot, too?" Rick asked, confused.

"Didn't need it. None of us do, though I imagine he led you to believe he did." She threw a glance over at her subordinate and he smiled innocently.

"Then how to you know it works?" Shane asked, angry at being misled.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're more than welcome to ask half the people in the safe house that are still walking around and talking if you like. They all got it."

"What else?" Dale asked, hoping to disfuse the situation. Shane was angry, he wanted to be angry, and Dale knew it was only because he didn't know what else to do. This was totally out of his control.

"Parker?" She looked over again. He looked around the cabin of the chopper and found a piece of rebar in the corner, secured to a banister along the floor. He ripped it off, and that would have been impressive enough but he proceeded to bend it clean in half in his bare hands.

"Whoa." Rick breathed, his eyes going wide.

"Strength." Dale said, understanding. She nodded.

"Eyesight is better than a normal person, we run faster, hear better. Heal." She smiled at Dale. "Does that answer your question?"

"Most definitely. And you all can do these things?"

"Yes, but we all have our particular talents, the same as you. I think you, for instance, might be keeping everyone on a moral standard. Unfortunately, it seems that's disappeared these days." She said and Dale actually blushed a little as he grinned back at her.

"Shane," She turned her green eyes to his. "What's your talent?"

He almost chuckled if he wasn't so wary of the whole situation. Watching this pretty little thing in front of him bend a rebar in half had thrown him for a loop. "I dunno."

"He keeps us safe, him and Rick." Lori said, glancing at him, and Sid nodded appreciatively.

"I don't doubt that. And you, Lori, are the mother hen? You and..." She turned her attention to Carol, who was sitting with Sophia on her lap.

"Carol." The older gray haired lady said, smiling. "And this is Sophia."

Sid smiled at the girl kindly. "Hi Sophia."

"Hi." The young girl whispered and smiled back but clung tighter to her mother.

"T-Dog." The burly man introduced himself when she turned her eyes toward him, but when she got to Daryl he just stared out the window, a grumpy look on his face and his crossbow leaning between his feet.

"Glen." Glen stuck his hand out too, and she shook it.

"That's Daryl." Dale said and the redneck whipped his head around.

"Jesus, Dale. If I wanted the man to know who I was I'd a told em." He bit harshly.

"The man?" T-Dog jibbed him and Daryl turned back to the window.

"I guess that makes you Dale." She said and shook his head when he stuck it out. She leaned back in her seat and put her hand on her lap, considering them all. "When we get to the safe house I'll be very busy, so if you have any questions now's the time to get them out."

Of course Dale jumped at the chance. "How many other groups are working out here?"

"The SFOD-D currently has six groups all working to localize the effects of the virus across the country. There are others under different names across the world, put together by their own governments but still operating under a general order."

"From who?"

"Various high ranking officials and world leaders." She said simply.

"Doesn't that take away the people's right to decide what should happen?" Dale asked, concerned.

"You wish to vote on the decisions they're making?" She asked lightly. "We've rescued the majority of survivors in the lower southeastern quadrant of the country. Gotten them running water and food, taught them how to survive."

"It still makes me nervous."

She smiled and nodded understandingly. "It's going to take some time, but we'll get back to a place where you'll feel more in control, I promise you that."

Rick spoke up with a shakey voice. Shane looked to him and saw he was pale but the rosy color had not left his cheeks. Still, he did not look well, and it made him very uncomfortable. "How did you get into this? Leading this group? You're very..." He trailed off and Parker chuckled softly.

"Young, you mean?" She asked and he blushed further. "I was trained for this my whole life. Most of us were."

"You were bred to fight?" Dale asked and she nodded.

"That's probably the best way to put it. I was recruited at a young age, brought to a base and trained, much like my men and the others in SFOD-D. I have a head for strategy, my superiors saw that." She paused and smiled wryly. "I do hope you realize that you're gaining knowledge of some of the most classified information the military has ever had."

"So you have to kill us?" Dale joked half heartedly, suddenly realizing it was a poor joke, but she just chuckled lightly.

"I think making sure the human population survives is a little more important than a few government secrets right now."

She looked out over the land sweeping below, and Rick looked over at Lori and Shane. He raised his eyebrows in question and they both just looked a little lost. Carl spoke up and they all turned their attention back to the boy quickly.

"Are there kids where we're going?" He asked and Lori made a motion to shush him but Sid held up her hand.

"No, it's fine. We have children, Carl. Do you like baseball?" She asked and he nodded excitedly. "They have games, a team. I bet you would like like to join. And I think they're going to try football sometimes soon, right Parker?"

"Yes ma'am."

She nodded and looked over at Sophia. "What do you like to do, Sophia?"

The little girl smiled and clutched her doll tightly. "I like to go to the playground."

"You're in luck, then. We have one, and it looks like a lot of fun."

Sophia grinned widely, and Sid looked back at Daryl. "Got a hunting team, too." she said and his ears perked up, but he didn't look her way yet. "Really could use a couple more hands. MRE's get old after a while. Especially one that can use a crossbow. Keep the noise down."

"You got semi autos, lady." Daryl's finally looked at her, his eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't think noise'd be a problem for you people."

She looked patient as she answered. "True, but we've outfitted our M-16 with a laser capable of cutting through a steel wall, and it's completely silent. So what do you say, you want to join the hunting team?"

"Do I get one a those guns?" He asked and she laughed softly.

"How about I get to know you a little better first." She said. "You remind me a lot of a guy we picked up a couple weeks ago. What was his name, Parker? The new guy on the hunting team."

"Marcus? Maddox?" He said, thinking aloud. He grabbed a small electronic pad from his belt and ran the tip of his finger down it quickly. "Here it is, Merle. Merle Dixon."

Daryl shot up in his seat. "My brother is there?"

"The one handed guy is your brother?" Parker asked curiously, and Rick looked at the others quickly. He'd gotten away from the roof and cauterized the wound, they already knew that, but knowing he was still alive was a shock to them all.

"Damn straight he is." Daryl said harshly. "How long has he been there?"

Parker looked back at his pad. "He was brought in a little over two weeks ago. If I remember right he had a bad infection from the amputation. I was led to understand he did it himself."

"Yeah, had to. Somebody dropped the key." He glared at T-Dog, who just sighed and rolled his eyes.

She looked at him with a frown. "You care to explain that statement, Daryl?"

Rick spoke up quickly. "We were in Atlanta and Merle was high and popping rounds off on the roof of the building we were on, drawing walkers. Had to restrain himself for the safety of the group. Walkers got in and we lost the key to the handcuffs in a drainage ditch, had to leave him."

Her eyes went wide with a quiet surprise. "Really."

"We went back to get him." Glen spoke up. We'd locked the doors to the roof so the walkers couldn't get in when we had to leave him. But when we got back all we found was a hand."

She pursed her lips, looking back at Daryl. "I've met Merle, and that doesn't surprise me. Still, he's proved to be quite an asset in feeding us, and we have a strict no drug rule. So perhaps he's changed his ways."

Daryl scoffed and continued looking out the window, but they all noticed his knee begin to bob up and down impatiently.

"Parker," Sid said softly. "Look up Martinson." Lori's head snapped up at that and she watched them with wide eyes, matching Rick, Carl, and Shane's.

"Martinson... here it is." Parker said and held out his pad. Sid looked at it and smiled.

"What? What is it?" Lori said, sitting almost out of her chair.

"Gary and Annie Martinson were picked up from Florida three and a half weeks ago. They're at the safe house." Sid said and Lori let out a ragged sob, throwing herself against Rick's chest. He held her tightly and smiled widely into her hair, his eyes going to Sid as he mouthed the words 'thank you'.

Sid grinned and tilted her head. "Lori?"

Lori pulled away and looked back at her with tear streaked cheeks. "Yes?"

"We have a group in the southwest that cleared Arizona a few days into the outbreak. It's been difficult getting people back to their families but I'm told we are to be expecting a Cindy Martinson on a transport unit in two days. I knew I recognized that name."

"Oh my god." Lori almost choked and she went flying out of her seat and onto Sid. She laughed loudly as Lori smothered her in a big hug, and Rick let out a hearty laugh of his own. Even Shane grinned. I'll be damned, Cindy made it, he thought, looking back at Rick, grinning.

Lori finally let go of Sid and made her way back to her seat and wiped her tears away. "Thank you." She breathed, hugging Carl close to her chest.

"My pleasure. In fact, I bet quite a few of you will see people you know, eventually. It will take some time, please be patient. And just so you're not surprised, we store our weapons when we're on the grounds. There are small children, and we've had a couple trigger happy idiots, don't want to repeat that." they looked deeply uncertain at that, especially Shane. "I'll show you were they're kept and you can have it back anytime you leave the grounds."

He looked slightly put off but he didn't retort. She took his silence for understanding and continued. "Hawk?"

"Twenty minutes. The wind's giving us an advantage."

She looked out over the trees below. Dale peered out with her, but they stopped speaking until the helicopter landed with a soft thud on the ground.

The door slid out and a red haired soldier with freckles speckling his cheeks stood back so they could get out.

"Welcome back, ma'am." He said politely and she nodded to him, standing on the opposite side of the door watching the small group get out.

"Did General MacAfee call?" She asked and he nodded.

"Said to expect the next shipment of anecdote to be here tomorrow."

"Good. Go to the hunters' quarters and get Merle Dixon." She said and Daryl paused outside the door.

"He's out for another ma'am." He said almost apologetically.

"Fine. When he gets back tell him I need to see him." She said, looking back at Parker. "Gather their weapons, put them away and I'll meet you in MTAC in forty."

He nodded and made a round through Rick, Shane and the others. They handed him their sidearms and shotguns, but Daryl pulled back when Parker got to him. He looked back at Sid uncertainly and she came to stand in front of Daryl.

"Nobody touches this but me." He said firmly, his eyes almost shut in the bright sunlight.

"The arrows then. But you can't have both." She said gently and he frowned at her.

"Jesus, fine." He swore and handed Parker his quiver from his back. Parker took it and marched off toward a large white building flanked by two more on either side. Sid nodded to Daryl her thanks and started toward the buildings, Rick and the group close behind her. There was a large playground on the grounds past the building and they could see dozens of children crawling over the brightly colored metal jungle him and swinging on sets set off to the side. It was an impressive set up on its own, but Rick and Shane turned back toward Sid's back as she spoke.

"The dorms are in that building, cafeteria in the ground floor. The rooms are small, double occupancy but we have a few small apartments for larger families that want to stay together." She pointed to the building all the way over on the other side of the main house. "Soldiers quarters and command rooms are there, as well as our weapons lockup."

"The middle building has a social center with TV loaded with movies and games. Exercise rooms, Olympic size pool and sauna and a few other things you'll get across to checking out." She finished speaking and went to a door in the first building she had, but paused and turned back to them. "You can't see it from here but we have a fourteen foot retaining wall with razor wire and electric gates. We haven't had a breach yet but we have snipers on the roofs in case we ever should have to use them."

Rick felt sick to his stomach and Sid seemed to notice. She hustled them in the building and up a short flight of stairs, leading them down a long hallway. They passed people moving up and down the hall casually, and they would smile and nod to them when they met their eyes. One woman was laughing with a friend, a swimsuit evident over the towel she had wrapped tightly around her.

"Hey Sid." She grinned as she passed them. "More survivors?"

"Par for the course, Betsy." Sid grinned and called back over her shoulder. She stopped halfway down the hallway and hit a button. The doors in the wall slid back to reveal a large elevator and she stepped in, waiting for them.

"What was this place, before? It looks like a college or something." T-Dog asked as they followed her.

"It was built for us to train and run practice real life scenarios. It's proving to be a lot more than that. Some of the other safe houses are much smaller, and it's harder to keep families in the same dorm for obvious reasons." She explained as they went up. The digital readout on the upper left right corner pinged the number 7, and she got out into an identical hallway as before. Most of the rooms had little occupied cards swinging from the doorway but she walked to one that didn't and opened the door.

"Who's first?" She looked back at them expectantly. "Two of you can stay here."

T-Dog and Glen looked at each other and Glen shrugged. They stepped forward and stood back so they could move past her. The others leaned in and saw a small but comfortable room with two beds against the wall and a door to their left.

"Each room has it's own bathroom. That's something some of the other houses don't have either."

T-dog flopped down on the bed and let out a happy groan. Sid grinned and left the men to get settled in, but not before grabbing the placard that was on all the other doors and placing it on Glen and T-Dog's door. Andrea and Amy were next, running into the next bedroom Sid pushed open and straight to the bathroom. Sid chuckled and left them to it, marking the door as she stepped back.

"Rick, Lori, I think you'll like this." She said, moving across the hall and to another room. She opened it and they saw this one had two bedrooms, one bed in the larger front room and another two in a smaller room attached to it. Rick led Lori and Carl inside, and they looked around curiously. "Get some rest, Rick. I'm going to send a doctor up to check you out in a little bit. I don't want to see you walking around till he gives you the ok. And Lori?" Lori looked up at her name. "I'm sure you want to stay with Rick while the doctor checks him out, so when that's done I'll come back and get you and take you to your parents. Is that ok?"

"Yes, thank you." Lori said gratefully and helped Rick get onto the big bed nearby.

Sid smiled and put the placard on the outside of their door. "Dad, I get my own room?" Carl was saying as she backed out of the room and closed the door behind herself. Daryl had that crossbow slung over his shoulder again, Shane was looking down the hall at the people getting in the elevator, and Dale had his usual grin over his face.

She tilted her head and looked at Daryl closely. "I'm assuming you'll want to board with your brother." He jerked his head a little in acknowledgement. "Then, Dale, I guess you'll be with Shane, there's an empty room next door." She stepped down to the next room and opened the door. Dale walked into it past her and turned around, grinning.

"This is wonderful."

She smiled, looking at Shane peering in the door. "I'll have your bags brought in shortly. You'll find towels and soap in the shower, so feel free to get cleaned up if you like. There's hot water."

Dale chuckled and headed for the bathroom, but Shane stayed at the door, looking around the room like it was going to bite him. Daryl just looked impatient, and Sid let out a deep breath. She'd had cautious people through here before, but these two were going to be tough nuts to crack.

She pushed the button on her earpiece and spoke, startling both men slightly. "Nixon, please copy." The speaker on her chest crackled softly immediately.

"Copy. Welcome back, ma'am."

"Thanks. The new arrivals have taken 712, 714, 716 and 718. And one more for the shack. Send Dr. Baker up to 714 for Rick Grimes. He got the cure, we need a well check."

"Copy that." The speaker died again and she looked up at Daryl and Shane. "Why don't you two come with me. Merle should be back very shortly and I have a feeling you, Shane, would like to see how we run things here."

Shane looked at her, a little surprised. She was going to show him the belly of the beast, after the confrontations he'd repeatedly thrown at her? She had to be either smarter or trickier than he realized, but he nodded and followed her, Daryl right behind him.

They made their way back down to the ground floor and out a doorway back in the yard in front of the building. She led them right across into the building she had designated as the command post and they passed a few soldiers moving in and out the sliding glass doors. They were all dressed like Sid and her men had been and Shane and Daryl gave them once overs as they followed her down a darkened corridor and into a spacious office. Walnut and marble lined the walls and sparkling crystal chandeliers hung from the tall ceiling. She marched in and went behind a huge walnut desk, sitting down in a high back chair. Shane and Daryl looked around the room as they came forward slowly, and she gestured to the wing back chairs in front of her desk.

"You run all this? You?" Daryl said, grabbing one of the chairs and Shane sat down next to him.

"I'm the highest rank here for the time being, so yes."

"What are you?" Shane asked.

"How much do you know about Delta Force? You seemed to be familiar in the bird." She asked him.

He shrugged. "Probably not more than rumors, but it's supposed to be some sort of anti terrorism group."

"It goes a little deeper than that. Technically I'm a Colonel, but we don't really recognize those terms here. It's about respect, doing what you can for the group. We work together, and right now, we're trying to neutralize the threat of the virus. Get the cure out there, innoculate the survivors against future attack. Once a baseline for society is set back up we'll let you and all the people here go out and find your place again. Start really living. And that's all you want, isn't it? What you were looking for out there on the road?"

"Pretty much." Shane said, biting his cheek. It might seem to good to be true, but she was making sense. This place was secure from what he could see, and the people milling around didn't look like stepford wives. He'd always relied on his gut to tell him to run, and right now all his gut was telling him was to shut the fuck up and listen.

She waved her hand passively. "There you go." She pushed a button on the intercom on her desk and got up, walking to a cabinet in the wall and pushing it open. She unzipped the heavy black jacket she wore and pulled it off, hanging it on a hanger inside. She wore a short sleeved black v neck tee shirt, military issue from the looks of it, and with the tight black pants she wore she looked lithe and athletic, but with the curves that a young woman in her twenties naturally carries. Shane looked down at the floor when he realized he was staring, but Daryl didn't try to hide it at all. Shane snapped his fist out, hitting Daryl in the arm and was rewarded with a dirty glare.

The door opened and a young woman in jeans came in with a tray. She brought it to the desk as Sid came back and sat down, and put coffee cups in front of all three of them, pouring them full. "Thank you, Arlene." Sid said, and picked hers up. Daryl didn't move, but Shane reached forward and took his, giving the slight, strawberry blonde girl a little nod.

"Arlene, this is Shane Walsh and Daryl Dixon. We brought their group in today."

"Nice to meet you." Arlene gave a sweet smile to them both, but her eyes lingered a little longer on Daryl. "Glad to have you here." She backed up and Shane raised an eyebrow at Daryl as she left the room. Another dirty glare, and he almost chuckled.

"God, look at this." Sid put her cup down and rifled through some papers on her desk. "You'd think that the world almost ending would mean less paperwork."

"I just can't wrap my head around the fact that you people have been here all the time and things still got so fucked up, I'm sorry." Shane shook his head and put his cup down. She stopped flipping through the papers and frowned.

"I know." She said and sighed, sitting back and looking at the desk. "And I'm not trying to apologize for that but we're doing what we can now. If we'd known what that bastard in Nebraska was up to, you need to believe that we would not be having this conversation right now. You'd never know I existed. I like it better that way, we all do."

Her intercom buzzed again and Parker's voice came over clearly. "I'm bringing Dixon up now, ma'am."

She gave a small smile as Daryl sat straight up, looking back at the door in anticipation. The door opened and they could hear Merle's voice in the hallway. "Ain't you gonna tell me what the hell I did now? I didn't take Potsy's Jack, I'm telling you-" Merle was too busy arguing with Parker that he managed to step four feet into the room before noticing Daryl. "Well, I'll be damned." He mused and Daryl grinned, stepping forward. They threw their arms around each other in a tight brotherly hug and Merle pulled back after a minute.

"How the fuck you still alive, little brother?"

"I could say the same, man. What the hell did you go and do to yerself?" Daryl said, looking down at the wrapped stump on his brother's arm.

"I did what I had to do, you know that. Always do." Merle held up the stump and looked at it proudly. Sid got up and walked around the desk to Parker.

"Why don't you take these two down to the shack, let Daryl get settled in." She said and Merle looked back at her and grinned.

"Aw, hell, I can do that, Sid."

She chuckled but held out a hand for him to go ahead. Daryl gave him an amused look. "Following orders, now, huh?"

Merle narrowed his eyes but kept the smile. "This ain't no woman, this is Sid, man. Come on, little brother, I got something I wanna show you, you ain't gonna believe." They turned and Merle threw his arm over Daryl as they walked out the door. "You know why they call 'er Sid, man?" Their voices trailed off and Parker shut the door behind them. She turned and went back to Shane at the desk just as her intercom came back on.

"Sid, Dr. Baker has seen Mr. Grimes. He's given him the all clear." A woman's voice sounded low and clear.

Sid went around the desk and pushed a button. "Thank you Arlene." She looked at Shane. "Your friend will be just fine, like I told you." She pushed the button on her headset. "Parker, please locate Mr and Mrs. Gary Martinson, bring them to my office."

"Already did, ma'am. I can have them there in five."

Sid smiled at Shane. "Ready for another family reunion before I have to go do report?"

Shane actually grinned and nodded. Watching Lori get her parents back was going to be awesome. They left the room and met Parker in the hallway, and when Annie saw Shane she let out a sharp gasp.

"Shane! Oh, I can't believe it!" She threw her thin arms around his neck and he grinned over her shoulder at Gary, who was standing back and smiling happily.

"Hey Annie. How are you?" Shane asked when she pulled back, putting her hand on his face. Gary came up beside her and put his arm around her shoulders, holding out his hand to Shane. He shook it firmly.

"I'm just so happy to see you. Does that mean... Lori? Carl?" she looked from Shane to Sid, who just smiled as she watched from the side.

"They're here." He said and Annie's eyes welled up with tears.

"Oh thank god. And Rick, what happened? We lost touch when the phones were out but the last thing we heard was that he never pulled out of the coma."

"He's here too, and he's fine."

Annie let out a sob and put her hands on her mouth. "Well, show me! Show me! Oh, Gary, our babies!" She grasped one hand in Shane's and one in Gary's and they followed Sid to the elevator. Annie was chattering about the place and asking Shane questions, but not taking the time to really let him answer. Sid could see his head spinning as she reached the Grimes' door and knocked lightly.

Lori answered the door and her face lit up when she saw them. "Momma! Daddy!" She cried out and Annie bustled past Shane and Sid and grabbed her daughter in a tight hug. The room came alive with shouts of 'Hey, Carl!' and 'Rick, I can't believe you're ok.", and Shane and Sid stood back watching. After the initial hugs and tears were wiped away Sid walked around the group to Rick on the bed. She spoke low, so as not to interrupt the happy people near them.

"Dr Baker gave you the all clear. How do you feel?" She asked, and he took his eyes from his wife and son with his inlaws, a grin still on his face.

"A little tired but a hell of a lot better now. Thank you." He said, his blue eyes sparkling.

She smiled. "Good. I live for these meetings, they're so much fun to watch."

"It's gotta be good to be able to do it for people." He said with a raised eyebrow.

"It is. Wish I could do it more. But if you're not too tired right now, I've got someone I want to show you and Shane. Can you tear yourself away?"

"I don't think they'll miss me." He chuckled and she helped him get to his feet and he put his arm over her shoulder for support as they slipped from the room and out into the hallway with Shane. She handled him easily, and he was well aware of how strong she was. It was a little intimidating and he pulled free in the hallway.

"Just go slow. You're going to be back to normal tomorrow." She said and shut the door behind them.

"So, what are going to see? More people we knew?" Rick asked as they walked slowly down the hall.

"Not at the moment. But I have to be in MTAC in a few to give my report and I thought you might like to see it."

"Yeah." Shane said, looking over at Rick as she pushed the elevator button and they got in. "You should see her office, man. Looks like the White House."

She chuckled loudly at that and they looked at her strangely. "Sorry. Go on."

"Did Daryl get to see Merle?" Rick asked as they went down.

"Yeah. Stump and all." Shane shook his head in disbelief. "Went to someplace called the shack."

"That's what the hunters call it, but I think it's as good as the four seasons. They feed us, we like to take care of them. Tomorrow we'll get together with everyone from your group and figure out where you'd fit in. Patrolling, cooking, wash, we have a lot of work but we do it together and most people are happy with it. Makes it seem like life has really started again for them."

"I imagine so. I didn't realize how much I missed my routine till it wasn't there anymore." Rick said and she nodded.

"Exactly." They exited the building on the ground floor and she retraced her steps to the command building again, but she opened a door well before her office and on the other side of the hallway. She held the door open for them and raised an eyebrow. "Welcome to MTAC, gentlemen."

They walked in, awestruck faces as they looked around the darkened room. Maps lit up with small red dots on clear screens lined one wall and a huge screen with colored bars lined another. There were machines and computers making quiet whirring noises and men and woman at desks with headphones typing at laptops and speaking softly.

"This is the heart of our operations." She said softly, coming up between them. "From here I can communicate with all our ground forces and the sister groups in other countries. I give updates on our progress and get further orders."

"This is amazing." Shane breathed out and he looked over when a young man by the large screen spoke.

"Two minutes, ma'am."

"Thank you Tucker." She said and put her hands on Rick and Shane's backs, bringing them to stand in front of the screen with her. "Don't be nervous. You two kept your group together for a long time, he'll want to meet you."

Rick and Shane looked down at her in confusion. "Who wants to meet us?" Rick asked but the screen flickered and cleared, showing a man sitting at a desk in front of a large American flag. Their mouths dropped open in shock

"Col. Benson, good to see you."

"Hello, Mr. President. I hope you're well."

"I could stand to see the sun again, but I am. You have some good news for me I take it?" He looked at her with kind eyes, and Shane and Rick felt like the air had been sucked from the room.

"Yes sir. We've sanitized the lower half of our quadrant, and brought in the survivors. Twenty five more in just the last two days."

"Good to hear, Sid. Who's this?" His eyes flickered from Rick to Shane.

"Shane Walsh and Rick Grimes. King's County Sheriff's Deputies, sir. They managed to keep a large group safe until we found them today, I think they'll be a benefit to us."

"You must be good at what you do, Officers. Very good."

"Thank you, sir." Rick said, swallowing hard.

"Sid, keep up the good work. New orders will be sent by Armsforth soon, if you have any problems let me know." The President focused his attention back to her. "Bring in more like these two and we might have a chance here."

"Yes sir." She smiled up at him, her hands behind her back and her shoulders straight.

He nodded to her and the screen went black again, the colored bars came up again. She took a deep breath and stepped back, looking up at Rick and Shane. "Good, he likes you."

They looked at each other and Shane clapped his hands together, bursting out in laughter. "Man, you gotta be kidding me..."

Sid brought Parker up to take Shane and Rick back to their rooms till dinner, and she retreated to her office. They grinned and chuckled the whole way up.

"She doesn't take a lot of people into MTAC, she must like your group." Parker said as they neared their floor.

"She doesn't seem like the type to be leading all these people. She... I don't know, she seems too friendly." Rick said and Parker laughed.

"She is, till you piss her off, then you might as well just cut your own balls off before she gets to you."

"Good to know." Shane said as Rick let himself back in his room, the sounds of chatter and laughter from inside coming into the hallway. Shane nodded to Parker and let himself into his own room. Dale was sitting on his bed in clean clothes, and Shane saw their bags had been delivered.

"Where did you go?" Dale asked and Shane grinned, despite himself. He hadn't been thrilled to be sharing a room with the old man but he was too busy in his own mind to really bother with that now.

"Saw the command rooms, her office. She took us in, me and Rick, when she gave her report."

"What was it like?" Dale asked, excited.

"She had the President up on a screen, talked to him. Introduced us, can you believe that, man?" Shane said, laying back on his bed.

"My god. What did you say?"

"What would you say, man? I kept my damn mouth shut."

Dale nodded, his eyes wide. "She's something, isn't she? She has this whole place wrapped up, what do you think of all that?"

Shane sat back up and groaned. "What I think is, I reached my quota on crazy ass shit happening today and I need a shower."


	3. Settling In

_I don't own anything pertaining to the Walking Dead, as sad as I am about that. However, Sid and her men are mine, all mine! (cue the evil laugh...)_

_Summary: Our favorite little group of survivors get found, and it turns out the government isn't as defunct as everyone would believe. What happens when they learn secrets they didn't know, and come across people who actually want to help?_

_No slash, possible Shane/OFC pairing, and more... haven't gotten that far yet. But the little Shane-voice in my head keeps screaming at me to help him get the girl, and I always try to accommodate him. He's just too cute not to. Amy is alive, Ed is dead (bastard), and Rick and Lori might mend their relationship if she gets her head out of her ass. Rated K+ for possible future scenes, we shall see._

_Rate if you want, no pressure. It does help me get an idea where to go if you send suggestions, and I'm always open to it. Flames, however, help no one and it kinda stings. Keep that in mind, thanks!_

They didn't see Sid the rest of the evening. Parker appeared a while later to take everyone but Rick and Lori down to dinner and Carl went with his grandparents. Once down in the cafeteria, Shane saw Daryl and Merle sitting with a large group of similarly scruffy and burly men against the wall, and he sat with the rest of their group on the other side of the massive room, watching people chat and laugh at the tables around them.

The food was good, nothing too special but there was plenty of it and they all ate quickly.

"So, what do you guys think of all this?" Amy asked them between bites.

"I think it's a lot to take in." Andrea said, and they nodded.

"But it looks real. I mean, they look happy enough, and Lori got her family back, Daryl got his brother." Dale said.

"I thought we were looking at the positive stuff." Amy snickered and they chuckled.

"I know, I know, but Daryl looks happy." Dale said, smiling. "I think we've found what we were looking for."

Shane didn't disagree, but he stayed quiet, finishing his food, deep in thought. After dinner, he didn't stick around to socialize with the others. Going back to his room, he crashed into the bed and pulled a pillow over his head. He thought about Sid and wondered why she didn't come back. It occurred to him to wonder why he was wondering about her and he groaned. He wasn't used to really strong women, the fact was he has always gravitated toward women who needed him in one way or another. Meeting Sid and her men has seriously thrown a wrench in his thinking, and not just because she had the President on speed dial and an anecdote in her pocket.

The next morning came sooner than he expected. He hadn't even remembered falling asleep, but when he opened his eyes the sunlight was pouring in through the light shades on the window and Dale was snoring softly in the bed next to him. He got up and went to bathroom, splashing water on his face. There were new toothbrushes in packages on the counter that he hadn't seen before, and he grabbed one and used it quickly, dropping it into a cup on the counter and walked back out into the bedroom just as Dale was sitting up, yawning widely.

"I'll see ya." He said shortly and ducked out the door before Dale could speak. He went right for Rick's door and knocked lightly, and he was surprised when Rick answered the door. He grinned at Shane when he saw him.

"How you feelin', man?" Shane asked tentatively.

"Never better." Rick grinned. "Can't get Lori to stop smilin', though."

"I bet. You wanna head down, see what's goin' on?" Shane asked, jerking his head toward the hall.

"Yeah, hold on. Lori, I'm going down with Shane, you and Carl coming?" Rick called back and she poked her head out from the doorway, her hair wet. Shane looked at the floor when he saw her, the time they had together before Rick came back was heavy in his heart. Almost losing Rick by the gorge had affected him more than he cared to admit, deepened his feeling of regret.

"I'm meeting Momma and Daddy in a little bit, you go on." She said cheerfully and ducked back in the bathroom.

"Well, let's go, then." Rick said, his eyes sparkling a little more than usual, and though Shane was glad to see it it made him wonder a little. He noticed as they walked down the hallway that Rick's step was a little lighter, his gait a little straighter, and his face had lost that worn look a little. He almost looked like his partner again.

"You do look like you feel better." Shane said as casually as he could as they got into the elevator.

"Yeah, I do." Rick said, holding up his arm, the white stuff they had put on it in the woods was still there, but he shook the arm a little. "This doesn't even sting anymore."

Huh, Shane thought. That anecdote seemed like it had worked above and beyond. The doors slid open again and they were both surprised to see Sid waiting on the other side.

"Oh. Good, I was coming up to see you." She said, blinking at their appearance in front of her. They got out and she waved a young man away that had been showing her a folder of some sort. "You look better, Rick." She said, stepping back so they could get out of the elevator.

"I feel fine. Better than I have in a while, actually." Rick nodded.

"That's one of the positives. You feel like you want to roll over and die for a little while, then you rock out." She said, turning and walking with them down the corridor. "It's a little different for everyone, but some people find it lasts for days. Enjoy it."

They stepped outside and Shane put his hands over his eyes against the bright sunlight. She fell into step between the two of them comfortably, looking out over the yard of milling people and playing children. "I wanted to apologize for last evening, surprising you in MTAC."

"Yeah, that was wild. I still don't think Carl believes me." Rick chuckled and Shane grinned.

"If I'd have told you, would you have come?" She asked, almost playfully.

"Probably not." Shane said. "It's a little intimidating."

She looked at him in surprise. "Intimidating I think you can handle. I took a look at both your service records last night. Medals, fast promotions for both of you. Excellent capture and retention rates, even if you do have one or two fights under your belt." She raised an eyebrow and he held up his hands in defense.

"None of those were my fault."

She chuckled. "No, it's good. Means you don't stand down easy. That's what we need here. It's hard, you both know it, trying to live while all this crazy stuff is going on. Your priorities get messed up, you start thinking about people as targets instead of people." She paused and turned to face them both. "You know what I mean?"

"Yeah." Shane nodded, his hands going to his hips. "Seen it, it stays with you."

She nodded. "So have a lot of these people. It's skewered their thinking. Problem is, they look at me differently, they know I'll act fast, my men will act fast."

"They don't do the same things they would when you're around." Rick said, his posture immediately going into cop mode, same as Shane. It was instinctual, he couldn't help it any more than Shane could.

"I want you two to back me up, if you'd like. You're with the others in the hallways, in the cafe when I can't be. You'll see things I can't. What do you think? You ready to be cops again?"

Rick looked up at Shane and ran a hand over his face. He raised his eyebrows in that unspoken communication they always shared and Shane chuckled and shook his head, turning his eyes back to Sid. "Where do we sign up?"

She grinned and they returned it with wide smiles.

"I didn't think we'd be doin' this again." Shane said in the locker room of the control building as he and Rick changed into the black pants and tee shirts Sid had given them.

Rick pulled his own shirt over his head and had a grin on his face when it reappeared. "I know. Feels good."

"Like old times." Shane agreed, buckling his belt. "I still don't know just what we're supposed to do, though. They're soldiers, man. You mean they can't handle this?"

Rick shrugged. "They've got more to worry about than fist fights and arguments. I think it's smart she's designating responsibility."

"She's got a lot on her plate, but she can handle it." Shane said, tying his shoes, but he looked up when Rick laughed lightly. "What?"

"I think you might like her." Rick said with a knowing gaze. "Hey, look at that."

Shane watched as Rick shook free of the white bandage thing they had put on him. He held it in his hand and inspected his arm.

"How does it look?" Shane asked, getting up to see. Rick's arm was healed, a scar in the shape of a human bite the only thing to even hint that something had happened. "How'd you heal so fast?"

"I guess it was the cure. Doctor said it wouldn't take long, just didn't think he meant the next day."

"Huh. Does it hurt at all?"

"No." Rick shook his head and stretched his fingers. "Can't feel it at all."

Shane shrugged appreciatively. "She's waiting for us, we better get goin."

He started to walk away but saw Rick's smile. "You do like her."

"Will you shut up?" Shane sighed as they opened the door and went back out into the hall. Parker was waiting for them, and motioned for them to follow.

"Hey, Parker?" Shane said and the young man glanced back at him. "I get that you go by nicknames, Nixon, Hawk. But why do you call her Sid?"

Parker laughed loudly. "You remember Sid Vicious?"

"Yeah."

"He got that name for a reason, so did she. She gets mad enough and the name doesn't do her justice."

"Oh, come on, man." Shane said as Parker got to her door and paused. He shot Shane a look as he pushed the door open and they walked past him and into the office. Rick looked around in awe at the plush surroundings.

"Very nice, gentlemen." She said, looking up at them from her papers and smiling. "Official."

"Gotta look the part." Rick said, looking down at his black attire.

"Very true. I have something for you." She said, leaning back and opening her drawer. She pulled out two sidearms in holsters and held them out to them. "You most likely will never use them, but I think officers feel a little more secure when they're armed, am I right?"

"Something like that." Shane said as they stepped forward and took the weapons, clipping them to their belts. She stood and walked around the desk, stopping in front of them and crossing her arms over her chest.

"I think it's best if you spend the day with me, get a feel for the place. I've arranged our breakfast already, I hope you'll forgive the assumption." They nodded and she smiled. "Good, follow me."

They left the office and she looked back at them as they walked. "MTAC is off limits to civilians in any way shape or form, so if you see anyone poking around here that doesn't belong you should chase them off. It's happened a few times. They're curious, and I don't blame them, but we are way too busy for that."

They listened as she spoke, following her through the hallways and up a few floors to a conference room where a young man was standing outside the door. He held it open for them and they saw three places set up on the end of a long table, high backed chairs at each place.

"I was going to take you to the mess hall but it's loud. I wanted to get a chance for us to know each other, seeing as I'll be relying on you fairly heavily. Please take a seat." She said, walking to the end of the table and sitting down. She grabbed a carafe from the center of the table and poured them each cup fulls. They sat down on either side of her and followed her lead as she pulled a silver cover off her plate and sat it aside. They looked down at the bacon and eggs, toast and fresh strawberries on their plates. Orange juice and milk with cereal sat off to the side, and it all looked and smelled delicious.

"How is your wife?" She asked after she took a bite, looking up at Rick.

"Over the moon. I don't think I've seen her this happy since the day Carl was born." he grinned and she chuckled.

"Meeting family you think you lost has that effect, I've found."

Shane frowned as he chewed a piece of bacon. "Do you have any family?"

"Sure. Parker is more like my brother than anyone, I suppose. The men and women here are my family."

"But, I mean..."

"Blood?" She asked, taking a drink of her orange juice. "No." She didn't seem sad at all, and Shane felt a strange kinship with her. He didn't have any blood anymore either, just a surrogate in the Grimes'.

"I checked the transport logs. We're expecting the young Ms. Martinson tomorrow, noon." Sid said and Rick smiled over his eggs.

"That still floors me. I haven't seen Cindy since she left for college. That was... how long ago was that, Shane?"

She shrugged. "A year and half or so."

"Yeah. She had the biggest crush-" Rick began, but Shane shot him a look and he took a quick bite. Sid chuckled and finished her orange juice. She didn't eat much, Shane noticed. Picking at her food as she spoke.

"You two won't be alone in your duties. There are four other men and one woman I've chosen to do the general duties, but they aren't trained officers with your records. I'd like you to take lead."

"You think they'll be ok with that? Us just comin' in?" Rick frowned and she looked at him with a blank expression.

"They'll be ok. If I say it, they'll be more than ok." She perked up a little. "I've been waiting for people like you. I just didn't think I'd get two for the price of one."

They chuckled and Shane tilted his head a little at her. "So, just doing what we were doin' before? Cut and dry?"

She nodded and put her coffee cup down. "You got it. Somebody gets out of line, drinks a little too much, whatever, you do your thing. I'm not going to micromanage. I always hated it when someone did it to me. I think you do your best work when you're trusted."

"And you trust us? After just meeting us?" Shane asked with a little smile and she shrugged.

"I like to think I'm a good judge of character."

"That's the same judge of character that armed Merle Dixon?" Shane said, and he knew it was a rude thing to say as soon as he said it, but she just laughed.

"Merle and I have an understanding. He got out of line when he got here and I showed him the door. He decided to follow my wishes after that."

"Got out of line?"

She turned to Rick when he spoke. "He grabbed my ass."

They wanted to laugh, so hard, but they held back. "So you... did what?"

"Showed his face the lettering on my door. He had the imprint on his face for a week."

They did burst out laughing at that, nearly rolling off their chairs. She gave them an amused smile and waited for it to die down. "He was much more amicable after that. Besides, he gets all the whiskey he wants, a chance to talk up the ladies that allow him to, and a very comfortable place to stay, just as long as he keeps doing his job. I'm a very easy person to get along with, I hope you believe that."

Shane gasped for breath as his laughter died down. "You didn't get that on tape, did you? 'Cuz I would love to see it."

"I think we'll try and preserve what's left of Mr. Dixon's dignity, if you don't mind." She said lightly and he shook his head with amusement. "Are you two finished? I'd like to show you our holding quarters."

"You have a jail?" Rick asked, surprised.

"Don't look so shocked, we have everything you'll need here to do your jobs. And the others are waiting to meet you."

They left the room and walked quickly through corridors and down elevators, and out of the the building, going back into the one building they hadn't been in yet. Down another elevator and when it opened they thought they had walked back into King's County holding facility, in the bottom floor of their tiny precinct back home. There was a metal desk with a man sitting behind it, dressed in the same clothes as Rick and Shane. He stood when he saw them enter and tipped his head at Sid.

"Mark, this is Rick and Shane. I spoke to you about them." She said, stopping in front of the desk and looking back at them.

He grinned, a friendly face of about 35, lightly lined with tan and laugh lines. "Sure, good to meet you boys. It'll be good to get some actual cops in here." He stuck out his hand and they both shook it firmly.

"I can't believe all these people and you haven't yet." Rick said, and Mark shook his head.

"Oh, we have. But Sid here doesn't do much for power trips and that was all we were getting for a while."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that now. I think we're going to have a damn team now. Where are the others?" Sid asked and Mark pointed to a doorway next to them. She went to it and pulled it open, standing back to allow Rick and Shane to pass. She stepped away and Mark propped it open so he could stay in the doorway.

"Thank you for meeting me this morning, everyone. I'd like you to meet Rick Grimes and Shane Walsh. They'll be heading up the team."

Three men and a woman walked toward them and shook hands, murmuring greetings, and Shane took a moment to take them all in. The woman struck him first, she was very tall, almost up to his height, and her arms were muscular, evident even in her tee shirt. She was plain looking, but he thought she'd very well be able to hold her own.

"This is Beverly." Sid said, coming up beside him. "She was a security guard, and a roller derby girl, right?"

"Glad you're back, ma'am." Bev nodded to her and stepped back.

"This is Trucker." Sid said, gesturing to a burly man with a long beard streaked with gray.

"Another nickname." Shane said and he grinned.

"Drove an 18 wheeler for twenty years."

"And nearly through our front gate." Sid chuckled. "This is Adam, he was set on joining the Army when we found him in Charlston."

"Nice to meetcha." Adam, a young man with a buzzed cut and narrow brown eyes half saluted them, a deep country accent marking his words.

"And we can't forget Tom. Good old Tom." Sid said with a smile as she nodded to the last man. He was a big guy, muscular with a long red scar that ran down his left cheek. "Tom was a bouncer in the toughest bar in Detroit, but we've found a much better use for him here, haven't we?"

"Damn straight, Sid." He said in a low, gravely voice, and sized Rick and Shane up. They couldn't tell if he approved or not, but he sat down and put a heavy boot up on the table and they let it go for the moment.

"Rick and Shane were with the Sheriff's department in Georgia." She said to the small group. "So I want you to take their lead. They know policy and procedure and I'd like to become a little more constructed here. Sound good?" She said and they all nodded from their various perches on the table and chairs.

"Uh, Sid?" Mark said from behind them and she turned. "4-A is calling for us."

Her face went from friendly to stony in an instant, and the change was so sudden and extreme it gave Rick and Shane a start. "Rick, Shane, and Tom, you're with me."

Tom grinned a devious grin and they followed her out of the room. She walked fast, not taking the slow elevators and opting instead for the staircases that opened out into the bright sunlight. She darted through the door at the base of the dorm building and Rick gave Shane a 'what is going on?' look as they followed, Tom close on their tail. Guess they would find out soon enough. She flew up the stairs and they had to take two or three at a time to keep up. Shane noticed, when they emerged on the marked 4th floor, that Rick wasn't even a little out of breath like he was.


	4. Places everyone!

_I don't own anything pertaining to the Walking Dead, as sad as I am about that. However, Sid and her men are mine, all mine! (cue the evil laugh...)_

_Summary: Our favorite little group of survivors get found, and it turns out the government isn't as defunct as everyone would believe. What happens when they learn secrets they didn't know, and come across people who actually want to help?_

_No slash, possible Shane/OFC pairing, and more... haven't gotten that far yet. But the little Shane-voice in my head keeps screaming at me to help him get the girl, and I always try to accommodate him. He's just too cute not to. Amy is alive, Ed is dead (bastard), and Rick and Lori might mend their relationship if she gets her head out of her ass. Rated K+ for possible future scenes, we shall see._

_Rate if you want, no pressure. It does help me get an idea where to go if you send suggestions, and I'm always open to it. Flames, however, help no one and it kinda stings. Keep that in mind, thanks!_

She marched past a few people in the hallway but when they saw her coming the hall quickly cleared doors shutting before they got to them. They heard a stifled cry from a room ahead even through the thick doors and she got to it, sliding a card over the sensor at the knob and letting it snap back to her belt as she pushed the door open.

Shane and Rick got to the door as she took a few steps in, and they could see a man in a worn gray tee shirt and dirty jeans leaning over a frail looking middle aged woman on the floor. Things were scattered around the room, clothes and broken glass, and they were headed in when they felt Tom's burly hands on their shoulders, stopping them.

"Just give it a minute." He said in a low voice as the man raised his hand again to hit the woman, unaware they had entered the room. He was tall and lean, but had the sinewy build of a man who worked out. Sid reached forward and grabbed his raised arm and yanked him back sharply, sending him flying back into a wall behind her. Shane and Rick winced at the thump the man made but he was back on his feet fairly quickly, his finger aimed at Sid, who stood in a slightly crouched stance between him and the woman, her feet slightly apart, hands at her sides, and her eyes flashing dangerously.

"This ain't your concern, bitch." The man spoke in a low, deadly voice.

"Ooooo..." Tom said from behind them, and Shane glanced back at him. The big guy seemed almost amused.

"Sid, it's ok. He didn't mean it." The woman scrambled to her feet behind Sid, her hand over her cut lip and swollen eye. How many times had Rick and Shane heard that on their calls?

"Beth Ann, stay back." Sid said quietly and the woman stopped before Sid's outstretched arm, watching the scene fearfully. "You don't want to leave this abusive son of a bitch, that's fine, but he's causing a scene."

The man rolled his eyes and walked toward her. "Shut up, you whore." He got maybe one more step in and Sid hand was around his throat and he was off the ground a good two inches, his feet kicking at the air below him. Rick and Shane's eyes went wide and they leaned back a little, not believing what they were seeing.

"What did I tell you about the name calling, Fred?" She tilted her head and looked at him for a second before he went flying back again and he hit the wall again, punching a hole in the drywall and slumping in a heap below it, out cold."

"Oh god, Fred." Beth Ann moaned and tried to go for him but Sid turned and grabbed her arms, stopping her.

"Beth Ann, we have to take him, you know that." She said, and suddenly the kindness was back in her voice. "Let me see your face. Come on." She raised a hand and brought the woman's hand down, inspecting her bloody lip and quickly blackening eye.

"What are you gonna do with him?" She asked, tears streaking her bruised face.

"Let him sleep it off, but he's not coming back here to stay. I told you that last time if I had to come here again."

"Well, can't I see him?"

"Sure, when he's sober. But for now, you need to let Dr. Baker take a look at you. I'm going to send him up, ok?" The woman nodded and Sid called back toward them at the doorway. "Tom, get Fred out of here."

Tom pushed past Rick and Shane and heaved Fred's body over his shoulder, taking him from the room as Sid took Beth Ann in the bathroom. She emerged a minute later and met them at the door. "I'm sorry you had to see that, but it's part of the reason I need you two here."

"You just threw him across the room like he was a doll." Shane said, stunned. She frowned and hit the button on her headset.

"Send Dr. Baker to 422."

"Copy." Her speaker crackled with the single word and she walked past Rick and Shane and toward the elevator as the doors in the hallway began to open again, the commotion over and curiosity peaked. The doors slid closed behind them and she rubbed her forehead wearily with her fingertips.

"It's happened before, at least twice. I should have locked the bastard up for good last time but Beth Ann was so torn up." She said quietly and looked up at the digital readout on the wall.

"It nothing new to us." Rick said gently, obviously trying to comfort her a little. Shane, however, was so impressed by her quick action and lack of sentiment when dealing with Fred that he just left his friend to it.

"I imagine. I bet you saw a lot of that in your work." She said, looking up at him, her brows knitted together.

"More than I like to think." Rick nodded. "But you dealt with him pretty good. I think he'll think twice next time."

She shook. "I wish that were true. But give Fred a little too much to drink and he has a very short memory. I guess we found out who took the Jack from the hunter's shack, though. Maybe they'll quit whining now."

Rick chuckled and they walked quickly back to the holding floor they had been in when the call had come. She let them through another door past Mark, still at the desk, and found Tom sitting in a chair across from a cell. Both walls were lined with them, cots and toilets in each, but all were empty but two, and this one held an unconcious Fred. The other was another older man who sat on his cot, watching them interestedly.

"He awake yet?" She asked and Tom held out his thick hand, wavering it slightly from side to side.

"He's mumbling."

She turned back to them. "These are the holding cells you'll be using for our more... active guests. I'll get you keys in a bit."

"Sid, you gonna let me out now? It's been more'n 24 hours." The older man from the other cell came to his bars and put his arms through them, hanging them lazily. He was dirty with old sweat and smelled like a brewery.

"You going to try and kill your roommate again, Barney?" She put a small hand on the bars of the nearest cell and leaned a little, looking at the man with a raised eyebrow.

"He took my shirt, I told you that." He said defensively and she shook her head.

"Still not an excuse to try and decapitate him with a clothes hanger." She said, exasperatedly. "Get out of here. We switched your rooms, you're in 310 now."

"Thanks. Won't happen again, boss." He said, excited to be free. She sighed as he darted out the door and Shane chuckled.

"A hanger?"

She nodded as they left the room, the door shutting behind them with a loud click. "Moron wrapped a plastic hanger around his roommate's throat but it broke in half and he got out and called us. I think he was more angry he hadn't killed the guy than the shirt he claimed he lost. Found it under his bed after we got him down here."

Rick and Shane laughed as they left the holding facility, and went back to her office. Once back inside she walked around to her desk and opened a drawer, pulling out two key cards like the one she had used with Beth Ann and Fred's room and a pair of heavy duty walkie talkies.

"Opens everything in the dorm building and the holding facility, as well as any common areas. If you get to somewhere it doesn't work, take it as a cue to walk away. The walkies will pick up any transmission went out over the security channel as well as alarms and locations for those." She said, handing the cards to them. "Handcuffs, two sets of keys each. One person, who shall remain nameless, used these on a waitress in the cafe and lost the key once. That was less than fun for me, so try and refrain."

"It wasn't Beverly, was it?" Shane said lightly and when her eyes met his and her eyebrow went up he let out a belly laugh that almost shook the room. "Aw, hell..."

"Sid, please copy." The speaker on her chest sparked to life and she hit the button on her earpiece.

"Go ahead."

"Dr. Baker says Beth Ann Murray has a fractured jaw. He's taken her up to med deck."

"Copy that. Keep me updated on her condition." She said and frowned, setting her jaw. "That bastard got off too easy."

"They usually do." Rick said. "But I think you gave him something to think about."

"We'll see." She flicked her eyebrows and looked up at them with a heavy face. "I guess we should go see your group, let them know your new role here. Find out where they belong." She hit her earpiece again and spoke firmly. "Parker, please gather the group from last night and meet me in my office."

Rick grabbed the chair across from her while they waited and leaned forward, looking at the paperwork on her desk. "What's all that?"

She took a deep breath. "Reports from the other units, layouts of areas we have and have not hit, mostly just repeated information I already have from MTAC. It's a bitch but it helps me prepare."

"For what? Finding more survivors?" He asked, leaning back.

She nodded. "And cleansing the area of the infected. That's why I brought you both in so soon. I would have waited a few days for you to get settled but I'm leaving in the morning and I wanted to know I have things handled here."

"You're leaving?" Shane said, a frown crossing his face as he walked around the high back chair toward the desk.

"We're tracking a roamer herd 40 miles east from where we found your group. It's a good thing we did because they were headed right for you."

Rick looked startled, but Shane just looked put off. She looked curiously at him but the door to her office opened and Parker let Lori and Carl and the others in. She looked at Rick strangely as she walked up to him and took his hand.

"What are you wearing?" She asked, looking from him to Shane. He started to answer but Sid stood and waved everyone in. Daryl was missing, but she didn't seem to notice. He'd already found his place.

"Come in, please. Make yourselves comfortable." She said, gesturing to the wide eyed people as they looked around her large office. Dale came forward and smiled widely at her as the others took seats on the couches in the middle of the room, facing her. Lori kept hold of Rick's hand and he led her over to the sofas too, taking a spot on the arm, Carl at their feet. Dale took his seat in the high back chair and Shane stood off to the side, arms crossed over his chest. He was thinking about her leaving, and only paid half attention.

"Thank you for taking a few moments to meet with me." Sid said, coming to lean against the outside of her desk. "As you can see, I've already met with Rick and Shane and I've made them part of the security team for the compound."

Eyes went to Rick and Shane respectively and Carl looked up at his dad. "You're a cop again, Dad?"

Rick smiled at him and nodded and Sid looked down at the boy. "Better than that, Carl. They're the bosses. I needed somebody with a good head on his shoulders."

"Then you picked the right guys." He said and a murmur of laughter went around the circle. Lori looked up at Rick with stunned eyes and he squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"As for the rest of you, I had hoped we could find a place where your talents would really show. We have a lot to do around here to keep the place going, and hopefully it will give you something to do so you don't get bored stiff." Sid continued and Carol raised a timid hand, much to the surprise of everyone. She was always so quiet.

"I like to cook." She offered and Sid clapped her hands together delightedly.

"Perfect. We have a state of the art kitchen with every convenience, and I know Rosa is always on the lookout for another good cook." Sid said and Carol smiled at Sophia on her lap happily. "What about the rest of you? Dale?" She looked down at him and he beamed. "What are you good at?"

"Well, in camp I was on watch a lot. I can do that for a long time."

"And he fixes cars. He fixed that RV a dozen times, I didn't think he'd be able to do it." Glen spoke up and Sid looked at Dale, impressed.

"We have a garage that always needs help. We might have government vehicles, but they still get flat tires and busted gaskets. You game?"

"Sure, for what an old man can do." He chuckled and she grinned at him.

"I can fix electronics." T-Dog said almost shyly and they all turned to him. "Back in the city, I did it for a while. I can fix pretty much anything with wires and a motherboard."

"I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. It's T-Dog, right?" She said encouragingly.

"Yes ma'am." He said, nodding to her.

"Call me Sid, all of you." She said. "Well, T-Dog, I think you're going to be very useful. I'll have a tool kit and walkie brought to your room tonight. You don't mind being on call for emergencies, right?"

"Long as it's not for a blow dryer." He said and she laughed.

"No worries." She looked over at Glen. "What about you?"

"I was just a pizza delivery guy." He said, shaking his head.

"Just? You kidding? Where are you from?"

"Atlanta." He said, confused as to her excitement.

She chuckled. "Glen, right?" He nodded. "I bet you can get across that city in under fifteen minutes. Know all the back routes?"

"I guess." He said and Rick chuckled.

"He does. Trust me. Got us out of there alive."

Sid grinned at the young man. "We're finishing sanitizing the city now, and we plan on re-establishing a communications base there but I got no men who know it from the ground up. I could use somebody who does, tell me the best places to go to maximize our reach."

He grinned, looking around the group briefly. "I guess I could do that."

"Perfect. Welcome to my Strategic Planning team, Glen." She said and Rick leaned over Lori to chuck him in the arm, both of them grinning and Glen blushing just the littlest bit.

"Ok, who's next. You." Sid looked at Andrea.

"Andrea, and this is my sister, Amy."

Sid nodded to them. "Ok, what are you two good at?"

"Dad was a fisherman, he hunted too." Amy spoke up and Sid cocked her head a little, waiting for more. "Taught us to skin and stuff. Get the game ready to be cooked."

"That's great. The hunters bring things in almost everyday. It would be a great help." Sid said and Amy grinned, but Andrea held up her hand.

"Wait a second, Amy. I haven't done that in years."

"Yeah, I know. Once you became a big time lawyer you couldn't tell a gizzard from a liver."

The light laughter went around again and Sid focused on Andrea. "A lawyer, huh?"

"Pro bono, stuff. Civil rights, for all that was worth." She said, waving her hand.

"You don't say." She said, walking around her desk and rifling through a few papers. "Are you familiar with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights?"

Andrea perked up. "It was created out of the American Convention on Human Rights, established in 1978. It relegated the protection of human rights. But you gotta be kidding me, why are you even talking about that?"

Sid looked up at her wearily. "Because I've got a small group of Muslim people here who think I haven't provided adequate protection of their civil rights. I haven't given them a proper place to pray, free and clear of the rest of the populace. And since we do still have an active government, they are countering my particular advisory opinion claiming discrimination." Sid said and came back around to her desk and crossing her arms over her chest. "Honestly, I don't have the room to clear out a floor for twelve people and stand watch several times a day. We have a few bigger fish to fry, if you catch my drift. These people are ready to riot, and anything you could do to mediate the situation would be a godsend."

"I'll talk to them." Andrea said, quietly, but her face was almost joyful. She was back in her element. Amy poked her in the side and grinned proudly, and Andrea smiled back at her.

Sid rubbed her hands together. "Great, this was really good. Thank you all. I'll send your assignments out and you'll get to your places soon. Andrea, get the information on that from Parker, if you don't mind. I believe he's started a file on it."

"Wait." Carl said as the others started to get up. "You're not done."

Sid turned around and looked at him curiously as Lori put a hand on his shoulder, shushing him. "What do you mean, Carl?"

"I mean, me and Sophia, we're good at stuff, too. What's our job?"

Sid came to kneel on one knee in front of him and smiled, Rick and the others watching her closely. "You're right. I'm sorry. It gets a little crazy around here and sometimes I get forgetful, you know?"

He grinned, nodding. "Yeah, so does Dad."

She laughed, glancing up at Rick. "Well, I actually have a really important job, and I haven't been able to find anybody to help me yet. Maybe you and Sophia would like to help."

"What is it?" Sophia said, sliding off her mothers lap and coming to stand by Carl in front of Sid.

"The Welcome Committee." Sid said, flashing her eyes.

"What's that?" Carl asked quickly.

"You know how you were new here yesterday, and I showed you around a little? Well, I'm so busy, I don't always have time to do that. I need somebody who can watch for new people your age, and when they come you kind of take them under your wing. You know? Show them around, where you have breakfast, where the playground is, stuff like that, so they aren't scared."

"I wasn't scared when I got here." He said proudly and she nodded.

"Exactly. Which is what makes you perfect for the job. Sophia, you think you might want to help Carl do that for me?" She nodded and Sid held out her hand, shaking Carl's firmly, then Sophia's. "Welcome to my Welcoming Committee then. Good to have you."

Sid stood and both kids turned back to their parents, chatting excitedly. Rick looked back at her gratefully. She was amazing, already having done so much for his family and she just continued to do more. She urged him to go ahead with the rest of the group and the door shut behind them, the sounds of their rushed words cut off into silence.

Shane stood where he was though, and she almost looked surprised when she saw him. She crossed back to her desk and took a seat, looking up at him with happy eyes.

"I think that went well." She said and he came to sit in the chair across from her, and he knew his face still showed his concern. "What is it?" She asked, letting out a breath.

"Tomorrow, you're going out there tomorrow to take out a herd."

"Yes."

"Take me with you."

"What?" She scoffed, leaning forward and stacking the papers on her desk in several piles.

"I'm serious, take me with you. I've seen those herds blow through, I know how they work."

She frowned at him, confused by his words. "Shane, that's why I put you and Rick as head of my security team. So I can go do my job and not worry. Are you telling me you want to abandon the job I've given you? Already?"

"No." He said, steadying himself and taking a deep breath. "I'm not saying that."

"Ok, so what are you saying?"

"You were surprised to find us out in those backwoods that high up, you said it yourself. And you want Glen to help you plan out that Atlanta thing, right? You need people who know the land, and who knows it better than me?"

She bit her lip and looked at him thoughtfully. "You have a point, I'm not denying that, but this is simple search and destroy, I've done it a million times blinded. A herd is a herd. And even if I accepted this crazy man logic you're working here, I could never get you inoculated in time."

"Rick was perfectly fine this morning after that shot, and he got bit. I'd be fine by tomorrow."

She put a hand to her head, exasperated. "Shane." She said tiredly but firmly. "It's a noble thing that you would be willing to go out there, but I need you here. I chose you for a reason."

"And I'm trusting you for a reason." He said, leaning back in his chair and she looked at him, her brows knitted together but her expression cleared.

"I know that probably wasn't easy." She said and he tilted his head at her. She nodded and stood, walking around the desk. "Come with me."

Shane followed her silently, wondering if he'd totally crossed the line. The truth was, pretty much since the moment she put him in his place in the campsite with those fire green eyes, he'd wanted to be around her every moment he could. Except for the fact that she was gorgeous, she really was nothing like the girls he usually found himself attracted to. And, last night was the first night he'd slept and not dreamed about Lori in one way or another. He'd actually stood in the same room with her today and not wanted to reach out and touch her.

He didn't realize they had come to their destination till Sid opened a door onto a white room lined with cots covered in white sheets. A man with dark hair, lined with gray and at the temples, was watching over the woman from before. She was still in her cot, breathing deeply, and the man left her and came to them when he saw Sid.

"How is she?"

"It's not as bad as it could have been. A light fracture, she'll be up and around in a few days." He looked over at Shane and she spoke.

"Dr. Baker, this is Shane Walsh. He came in with the man you checked yesterday."

"Mr. Grimes. I trust he's feeling better."

"A lot." Shane said and Dr. Baker chuckled.

"Glad to hear it."

"We need to get Walsh here inoculated. He was with me already so I thought I'd just stop by. You can still do the others tomorrow, right?"

"I can. Have a seat, Mr. Walsh." The doctor walked to a nearby cot and Shane grabbed a seat on it, looking between the official looking man in the lab coat and Sid, who was standing with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked stern, but Shane didn't feel it was in a bad way for some reason.

"Shane." He said, and the doctor nodded.

"Please remove your shirt, Shane." He said congenially and Shane did so, feeling almost a little self concious in front of Sid, though he knew he had no reason to be.

"Nice tattoo." She said and he almost blushed, smacking himself mentally. The doctor quickly took his vitals and checked his temperature, and when he turned to get a syringe and a vial, he spoke.

"Now, this is going to take you down for a few hours. You'll feel achy, sore, like you were in an accident, or a fight. But from the looks of that healed nose you've been through it before."

"Couple times." Shane said, focusing on the doctor.

"Well, then you'll be fine. And after that, you can be exposed to the virus but I wouldn't recommend it. This won't help the healing process and you'll still be subject to topical skin infection." He stuck the needle in Shane's bicep and his eyes met Sid. She gave him a 'told you so' look back and he didn't pull his eyes away like she expected and she blinked.

"There you go." Dr. Baker pulled the needle out and put a bandage over the mark. Shane pulled his shirt on as he continued. "Get some rest. And I'll be by tomorrow to see the rest, Sid."

"Thanks." She said. "The next shipment is coming in today sometime. I'll get it down to you." He nodded and Shane followed her out of the room.

"Where are we going now?" He jogged to catch up with her.

"I thought you should see what you want to get yourself into." She said, skipping lightly down the staircases to the bottom floor. He had to, again, do double time to keep up with her, but he had a feeling she was pushing harder and trying to prove a point. They came back out into the sunlight and he saw they were behind the buildings, a part he had not been to yet. There was a large covered building here, thinner than the rest, metal, and sounds of grunts and sharp laughter flowed quietly out of it. Sid walked up to it and pulled a sheet metal door back on rails, giving them enough room to step through before she shut it behind her.

There were two sections working at the moment, and Sid walked slowly with Shane along the back wall they had entered in. The first was one on one combat practice, but this was different than anything he'd ever seen. He recognized some of the soldiers he'd seen before, like Parker with a young woman with short blonde hair and a devilish expression circling each other nearby. She darted forward and went to one knee, slamming her palm into his chest and sending him into the air backward several feet. He landed on his back a few steps from Sid in the dirt and she came to stand over him, her hands on her hips.

"You know she always gets you like that." Sid said. "Why is that, exactly?"

Parker looked up at her with an amused grin. "She winked at me. Thought I had a shot."

"You always think you have a shot. Up." She held out a hand and pulled him easily to his feet and looked at the blonde woman who had stood back up and was grinning triumphantly. "Good, Broker. But remember, roamers don't flirt, and this is just too easy."

The woman, Broker, laughed loudly and Parker shot Sid a semi dirty look but broke back out into a smile as he jogged back to his partner. Shane looked at the other combatants, and with each hard thud of flesh hitting flesh, one would go flying like Parker had. They would leave the ground, clearing the air, and some would land on their feet but most would just tumble into another or land in a heap on the ground, quickly recovering and go back for more. It was like a twisted version of what he thought the acrobat tent at the circus would look like.

Sid continued along the back wall and they passed a partition. Here, there were targets set up at the end and the soldiers here, four of them, had their backs to he and Sid, firing on them. They had the M16s like he had seen that first day, but the only sounds were from the fighting in the next section. Flashes of light flew from the muzzles of the rifles and the targets, like dummies but made of a kind of foamy material he could see, flashed a light green color as the heads exploded like a white firecracker.

He felt his mouth drop open, he'd never seen anything like it outside of a movie. "It's a concentrated energy beam, but I can't tell you a whole lot more than that without confusing myself. But it's quiet, and it completely destroys the brain in one shot." Sid stopped and tilted her head toward him, speaking low so as not to distract the soldiers.

"You can fire all you want and never draw more." He said, unable to take his eyes off the flashes of green.

"That's the idea."

"This is..." He trailed off and she put her hand on his shoulder.

"Come on."

He didn't speak till she did, back out in the bright sunlight and walking slowly toward the middle building. "I showed you that because I know you, Shane. Well, I've known guys like you. You were out there with very little resources and you managed to survive, and that's so admirable. It's how I know I can count on you to keep these people safe and take some of this craziness off my hands."

"But you can take care of yourself." He said, and she frowned.

"Doesn't mean I don't need you. Just, out there? If you went I would be watching you, making sure you were safe and I wouldn't be able to do my job."

He chuckled. "It sounds so strange, hearing that from somebody almost a foot shorter and a hundred pounds less than me."

She grinned. "At least you didn't say, 'from a woman'. I might have to redirect you to the hunter's shack." She chuckled but it trailed off and she opened the door to the building, letting them into the cool air conditioned dimness. "You're a good guy. I'll be here tomorrow morning to greet the transport and then I'll go, but I'll be back to have breakfast with you guys the next morning and get a report."

Her chest speaker sparked and a voice came over. "Sid, the med shipment is here."

She hit her earpiece. "Copy." She looked at Shane again. "If you're not going to rest, go find Rick and the others and do some patrols. Get to know the place, talk to people. I'll see you in a little bit."

She shot him a smile and walked quickly away. He watched her till she disappeared, and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through his nose. As he turned and went in the opposite direction he thought about how that could have gone very badly. He'd been here all of 36 hours and he'd already questioned her authority in a way, and instead of bitch slapping him like she very well could have, she reasoned with him. Didn't mean he liked her going out there any more than he had before, but he got it. She was trained for this and she had the tools and the people to keep her safe. He wondered, however briefly, if he would ever get the chance to keep her safe.

"Where have you been?" Rick saw him in the ground floor of the dorm building and gave him a grin, and Shane nodded back to him, coming to stand beside him and watch the masses meander toward the cafeteria for lunch.

"Looking around." Shane said shortly, his mind still too full to really focus.

"You look a little pale. You feel ok?"

"I got the vaccine."

Rick's eyebrows went up. "Really? I thought Sid was doing that tomorrow."

"She is. We just happened to be near the doctor."

"Just happened to be there. You and Sid." Rick looked out over the people and stifled a grin, but Shane knew it was there and he frowned deeply. He did not feel like doing this right now. As much as he wanted to put on that he was tough, he was nauseous and sweaty. This vaccine was a bitch.

"Hey, go get some rest. If you feel like I did yesterday, I know you could use it. Besides, I got Bev to back me up." Rick said lightly and gestured to the tall woman across the room. She noticed and gave them a lazy salute.

"Lucky you." Shane said and Rick chuckled. "Yeah, I'm gonna head up. I'll see you in a while."

Rick nodded at him as Shane left and managed to duck into the elevator as it went back up to grab more people and bring them back to the cafeteria. He got out on the seventh floor and headed straight for his room, trying to look busy to avoid the curious looks from the passing people. Dale was, blessedly, absent when he got into the quiet room and he put his gun in the drawer next to his bed and pulled the curtains shut, blocking out the light that was now hurting his eyes. He fell into the bed and was asleep in record time.

"Shane?" Lori's quiet voice entered his dreams and he tried to brush it away, but when it came again he opened his eyes and blinked, trying to get his bearings.

"Lori?" He mumbled, looking around the dark room and made out her shape against the darkness, becoming clearer as his eyes adjusted. She was sitting on the edge of Dale's bed, looking at him intensely. "What's wrong?"

"Does something have to be wrong for me to check on you? I haven't seen you all day. Rick said you got the vaccine, how do you feel?"

He yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. "Tired, mostly." His nausea had faded but he still felt sore, he found, as he moved.

"Do you need anything?" She asked, and he tilted his head at her.

"What's up, Lori? Where's everybody else?" He didn't know why she was here, and he wasn't angry, it was just not something he wanted to deal with at the moment. He was too tired and his brain was too wrapped around thoughts of Sid.

"I haven't needed a reason to talk to you before, Shane." She said, a little defensively. "Rick is somewhere doing his new job and Carl is with my parents. I was worried about you."

"Sorry." He said, sighing deeply. "I didn't mean to be short. How are you adjusting here, to everything?"

She looked up at the ceiling, her face becoming overwhelmed with emotion. "I don't even know how to describe it, Shane. I never thought I'd see them again, you know? And knowing Cindy is ok. It's just..."

"A lot."

"Yeah." She met his eyes. "And having you and Rick together, doing your jobs again, the look he got when he put that gun on... it's almost like it was before."

"But?" He asked warily.

"That's it. There's no but. And I don't know what to do with that. So much has changed. What happened with us-"

"Shouldn't have happened." He said quickly, and she got quiet. She couldn't believe it came out of him any more than he would have believed it three days ago.

"No. It shouldn't."

"So, it's done." He said, weary. "Rick never needs to know."

She seemed hesitant. "No." She stood and walked to the door. She looked back at him before she opened the door and seemed like she wanted to say something else, but she closed her mouth and opened the door.

"Oh!" She gave a startled cry and Shane snapped his head up. "Sid, I'm sorry. You startled me." He couldn't see Sid, but his posture immediately straightened.

"Hi Lori. I was just checking on Shane. Standard procedure for everyone who gets the vaccine." He heard Sid say.

"He's right here." Lori said, standing back and Sid stepped into the room. "I better get back to Carl."

"See you later." Sid said and Lori left the room quickly. She shut the door behind her and Sid smiled at Shane as she approached the bed. "How you feeling?"

"Ok." He said, genuinely happy to see her.

"I brought you a sandwich, Rick said you were sleeping and you missed dinner. I'm glad you actually took Dr. Baker's advice, I didn't think you would. May I?" She gestured to the bed and he nodded, moving to make room for her. She sat down on the side and put her hand to his forehead. Her fingers were cool, almost too cool, but they felt amazing against his hot skin and he wished she would never take them away.

"Slight fever, but that's normal. Are you still tired?"

"A little." He said, taking a small paper bag she handed him.

"Well, eat and get some sleep." She said, taking a breath and clapping her small hands on her knees. "I'll see you in the morning. I get to go deal with Fred. He's throwing a fit down there in holding. Giving Mark an awful time."

"I'll come." Shane said quickly, standing with her.

"No, you should get back to bed. It's all on you guys tomorrow, I'm going to need you well rested." She put her hand on his shoulder and he felt a tingle go through his body.

"I should see how you deal with him, shouldn't I?" He said and she raised an eyebrow at him, chuckling a little after a moment.

"Shane you are probably the most stubborn person I've met out here yet." She grinned and nodded for him to follow.

He grinned. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"I respect it." She said, opening his door. "It'll probably get you killed, but I respect it."

He let out a short chuckle of his own and went with her.

They could hear Fred shouting obscenities through the door to the holding cells when they reached Mark's desk. Tom sat behind it now, however, and he rolled his eyes when he saw Sid and Shane. "Dude's been going on for hours, Sid. I can't believe he still has a voice."

She nodded to Tom and patted his shoulder as she passed. "I'll take care of it. Thanks, Tom."

She waved her card over the key reader and opened the door, and when Fred saw her he fell silent but glared at her. He didn't pay much attention to Shane at first.

"What's the problem, Fred?" She asked calmly and came to stand in front of his cell.

"You knocked me out, Sid. What the hell? My head's pounding like it got used for bowling practice." He pressed his face to the bars and spat the words out, but he was clearly much more sober than he had been.

"I think that's more from the bottle of Jack you downed and less from the love tap I gave you."

"Love tap? Fuckin..."

"Watch it, Fred."

He let out an angry breath and his eyes flashed. "Well, you gonna let me outta here or what?"

"You broke your wife's jaw." She said, and his eyes went wide.

"Beth Ann? Where is she?" He asked frantically. "I wanna see her."

She raised her eyebrows. "She's being looked after by Dr. Baker. And as far as your release, well, that isn't up to me anymore."

"What?" Fred asked, confused. His eyes slid over to Shane and back to her. "Him?"

"Him. This is Officer Walsh, Fred. Be nice and say hello." She looked at Shane and he realized she was putting him first, making sure Fred knew he was boss now. At least in name. He appreciated the gesture.

"Boss." Fred nodded to him and Shane jerked his head at him. "Why don't you let me on out now, I can see my Beth Ann."

Shane slipped immediately into cop mode, a feeling he hadn't had in so long. "Well, the way I see it, a year ago you wouldn't see the other side of these bars for a while in my precinct with the damage you did to your wife. So I don't see why I should let you out now."

Sid looked back at Fred and shrugged. "You heard the man."

Fred rolled his eyes and hopped up and down on one leg impatiently. "I gotta get outta here, man. Come on. She pushed me and pushed me till I couldn't take it anymore. You gotta know what I mean."

Shane got angry. He'd never hit a woman in his life, even if she did it first. He most certainly did not know what this man was talking about. "Sit your ass down and shut the hell up. I hear you were making a fuss back here and you'll never see the outside of this room again, you got it?"

Fred glared at him but sat down on his cot and kept his mouth shut. Sid and Shane left the room and she grinned at him when the door shut behind him. "Tom, I don't think Fred will be bothering you anymore tonight."

"You knock him out again?" He asked.

"Didn't have to. Shane took care of it."

Tom looked impressed. "Hell, I'm cool with that. Long as he shuts the fuck up. I was losin' it."

Shane felt good, he'd shown her he could handle the situation she threw at him, and he obviously had her backing. He felt his confidence rise, something that hadn't happened since Rick had come back, not really. He had been so out of control.

"I'm going to do perimeters. See you, Tom." She said and the burly guy tipped his head to her and Shane as they left the room.

"I knew I made the right decision with you." She said as they made their way back to the elevator.

"I did what I would have done back home." He said, "Even if I wanted to bash his head in."

She looked at him with an encouraging gaze. "Exactly. You wanted to and you didn't. I wish I always had that kind of control."

"I think you have plenty of control. The people here really respect you, I can see it."

"I had to earn it, and it still isn't easy. My men are one thing, but you think guys like Fred or Merle Dixon swallow being ordered around by somebody who looks like me just like that?"

They got out onto the ground floor and he looked down at here as they fell into step side by side. "So, perimeter check."

She smiled, amused at his persistence. "I'll show you those later. Go on back to your room, Shane. Get some rest, and don't argue. I'll see you in the morning."

He chuckled and gave her a light salute with his fingertips to his temple. He watched her walk away, and when she hopped up into a nearby Jeep and drove off into the yard he turned and made his way back into the dorm building.

Sid was up early, as always, but today even earlier. She did that when she was planning a mission, giving herself a little time to prepare, and she was going to need it. Dr. Baker was going to give the rest of Shane's group the vaccine today and she wanted to be there in case there were questions, concerns. Not everyone wanted it, though it was hard for her to believe, but there were still government conspiracy theorists out there that insisted this virus had been created and let loose as some sort of population control thing or something. Well, if that was true they'd done a bang up job.

She got out of the hot shower, lamenting the feeling even as the water trickled to a drip in the drain. A side effect of her... enhancement as a soldier left them all with slightly lower than normal body temperature, and she loved the feeling of hot water. She dressed quickly in tight black fatigue pants and a black tank top. Pulling her long dark hair up into a high ponytail on her head, she grabbed her gun and put it on her hip, attaching the various tools she needed also next. Walkie, key card, bowie knife, the list went on. Her pants gained ten pounds when she was done, or it felt like it, but they stayed up on her curvy hips and she didn't need a belt. She glanced at herself in the mirror and got her mirrored sunglasses from the dresser, hanging them from the front of her tank top and left the room.


End file.
